Early during Sunday's Vampire Weekend set we sent a note to a friend asking, "Has KEXP frat-rock been coined a genre yet?" It was a half-flippant statement, based on the overly-enthusiastic fratty dudes standing to our left and the band's J. Crew ad appearance. In our more bitter days, we would have allowed those two factors to color our impression of the band and their output, but we'd already enjoyed Vampire Weekend's eponymous EP, so we quieted our inner hater (frat guys are people too) and judged the band on their own merits, not the hype, their appearance, or their audience. Sure, being impartial should go without saying, but if you're a long-time reader you know us bloggers are a fickle sort. more ›

Somehow, the world of -ists managed to make it through the week despite news that Jen & Vince broke up. more ›